As the leaves begin to turn to fall color, collegiate soccer begins anew with numerous Portland Timbers Academy and Timbers U-23s products taking to the field across the country at various universities.
For Utah Valley University, 2014 marks their inaugural season and Academy product Collin Partee (Camas, Wash.) made his collegiate debut in goal and tallied an assist as the Wolverines won their first-ever match, a 5-1 win over the University of Massachusetts. Partee made six saves in the win and will face off against DePaul Friday, Sept. 5.
Jesse Garcia-Aguilar (Beaverton, Ore.) and Anthony Macchione (Camas, Wash.), two Academy players who headed to the University Akron, both made their collegiate debuts in a 1-0 loss to New Mexico Aug. 29.
Three Timbers U-23s were in action for Virginia Commonwealth University, with forward Kharlton Belmar tallying a goal in a 3-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 29. Defender Dennis Castillo scored VCU’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss to East Tennessee State on Aug. 31. Both players, along with midfielder Devon Fisher, started both matches.
Goalkeeper Brendan Moore played 90 minutes as a starter, tallying three saves for the University of North Carolina in a 1-0 loss against UCLA Aug. 31, while midfielder Omar Holness tallied a team-high five shots. On Sept. 7, UNC beat VCU 1-0.
Closer to home, the University of Portland’s Nike Invitational saw a host of Timbers Academy players and Timbers U-23s in action. Former Timbers U-23s defender Will Seymore started and played the full 90 minutes in Oregon State’s 3-1 win over Evansville Aug. 29 before playing alongside academy player Spencer Klewano (Portland, Ore.) as the Beavers won their second-straight Invitational with a 1-0 win over the University of Central Florida on Aug. 31. Current Pilot and former Timbers U-23s defender Hugo Rhoads also featured in the Nike Invitational, making two starts for the University of Portland in a 1-0 win over UCF on Aug. 29 and a 1-1 draw with Evansville on Aug. 31.
Continuing along with more Timbers U-23s news, midfielder Fatai Alashe scored the opener for Michigan State in a 3-0 win over Florida International on Aug. 31 and started in the Spartans’ season opener, a 1-0 win over Southern Methodist on Aug. 29.
Midfielders and ex-Timbers U-23s Jose Ribas and Lucas Stauffer both featured in Creighton’s two games over the weekend, with Ribas starting in a 2-0 win over Stanford Aug. 29 and tallied the game-winning assist in a 1-0 win over Santa Clara Aug. 31. Stauffer came off the bench in both games. On Sept. 7, Stauffer tallied an assist for the Blue Jays in their 3-0 win over Cincinnati Sept. 7. It marked his first collegiate assist and point.
